"[in Bali] you feel like you blend with nature" - Joe Taslim

Bali’s cultural capital, Ubud, is the kind of place that you visit for a few days and leave convinced that you could totally do the whole digital nomad life if you were based there. A town surrounded by nature (far away from the chaotic nightlife of Denpasar and Lombok), Ubud’s laid-back vibe makes it the perfect gateway to Bali’s landscapes and the best place to base yourself if you don’t fancy moving hotels every other night! The only question to answer was where to get coffee in order to function. Thankfully, Ubud has some of the best coffee in Bali all within walking distance of each other. So, here we go, our top 5 café’s in Ubud for the best coffee possible!

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Seniman Coffee Studio

If I died and went to heaven, a part of me suspects that parts of it would look a lot like Seniman Coffee Studio. In other words, it’s a coffee-lovers paradise. Taking an OCD-level approach to everything coffee-related, you can choose your roast from a series of charts and graphs on the wall and then select your brewing style from any one of the options on the desk, from a standard espresso machine to a chemex and everything in between. Add to that a food menu that could easily beat most hardcore restaurants in Ubud and you’ve got a recipe for perfection.

Oh, and if you fancy taking some of those beans back home with you, they run a shop and a roastery across the road, not to mention regular workshops on … Like I said, heaven.

Monkey Cave Espresso

Backing onto Ubud’s monkey forest, Monkey Cave Espresso is one of those things that fully backs the claim that great things come in small packages, what with it not being much bigger than the espresso machine that runs the place with only a couple of chairs above the counter. That said, that machine makes some of the best coffee in Ubud and the Aussie owners are super chill. We actually popped by on a couple of occasions, and it quickly became the go-to place to get picked up by our driver on the days we weren’t sunrise-chasing so that we could hop straight in the car coffees in hand!

Only thing to note is that you can’t take coffee into the monkey forest so if you’re popping by on the way, you’ll have to finish the drink before you can go in!

Anomali Coffee

Giving away free coffee with anything on the breakfast menu is one way to get my attention and, after having a couple of cups, I’m fully glad they did! Being right next to our hotel, Anomali became one of those coffee and croissant morning tasks on the route to getting ready to head out. That they also stock coffee from all over Indonesia (including kopi luwak beans) is a huge bonus for any of you looking to take a taste of Indonesia home with you and extend that holiday feeling!

Bonus points to the barista on the day we bought coffee beans who gave us tasters of the ones we were looking at to help us decide, he was the real MVP!

Lazy Cat Café

On their website, Lacy Cats describes laziness as “dedicating time to yourself without the need to be productive” and, to that end, the place is perfect. Hidden away on the second floor of a building on the edge of town, Lazy Cat Café is the kind of place you can sit down for an afternoon coffee with a book only to look up and find that the sun has set. Even then, with a cocktail and food menu longer than their coffee menu, there is no real reason to leave either. Combine all of that with an interior that wouldn’t look out of place on a list of instagrammable places in Bali and you’re set for an afternoon of blissful laziness.

Just maybe not on a Monday, they don’t open on Mondays…

Kafe

A little different to some of the other spots on this list, Kafe is more of an Ubud brunch place that also serves amazing coffee rather than strictly a coffee spot and we are all for it. One of Ubud’s original organic food spots – and one of the pioneers behind the anti-plastic campaign in Bali, Kafe is run by the same owners as the town’s Yoga Barn and bring that relaxed vibe into the place. One of those café’s whose food you have 100% seen a flatlay of on Instagram, no Ubud stay is complete without a trip or two!

Plus, with everything on the menu technically healthy, the only tough decision to make is what to order!

Eco Bike Café 2 (Honourable Mention)

Eco Bike Café in Kintamani isn’t exactly in Ubud, in fact it’s really far away sitting on the foothills around Mount Batur but if you’re in the area exploring the mountain then there is no better place to stop off for a coffee. We found this place by accident while searching for coffee (as usual) after a all-too-common crazy early start in Bali and it quickly became one of our favourite café’s in Bali so just had to get a spot on this list!

Growing and roasting their own beans in the surrounding hills, Eco Bike Coffee is about as close to “straight from source” that you can get without picking and roasting the beans yourself. The fact that their small shop has huge windows and a veranda that has an unobstructed view of Mount Batur makes it perfect for the shutterbug inside of everyone too! Go now before it becomes another of Bali’s Instagram spots and gets impossible to get a table!